RIVERSIDE – (INT) - Business activity in the Inland Empire is expected to expand at a relatively swift pace the rest of the year, despite ongoing trade disputes with China, according to the newly released Inland Empire Business Activity Index.

The Index, which draws on employment and other data, finds that the region’s business activity expanded at a 3.2% annualized rate in the third quarter of 2018, slightly behind the growth rate of U.S. GDP, which increased by 3.5%.

Looking over the past year, however (third quarter 2017 through third quarter 2018), the Inland Empire has outperformed the nation, with business activity growing by 3.2% in the region compared to 3.0% growth for U.S. GDP.

“We hear a lot about the impressive job growth of the Inland Empire, but the UCR Business Activity Index offers a more comprehensive view of overall business activity in the region,” said Robert Kleinhenz, Executive Director of Research at the Center for Economic Forecasting and one of the index authors. “The steady increases we have seen in the Index tell us that the area is benefitting from broad-based growth that is occurring across several industries and not exclusively from the large local logistics sector.”

This job growth is also evidenced by construction activity in the region: the total value of building permits increased 20.5% percent through the first three quarters of 2018, Kleinhenz said.

Story Date: November 27, 2018